Lighting system for conveyances



Jan. 31, 1928. 1,657,816

D. E. BONNER LIGHTING SYSTEM FOR CONVEYANCES Filed June 4, 1927 INVEN TOR .Daua 45 E. Bow/ER A ITOR/VEYS Patented Jan. 31, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DOUGLAS E. BONNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LIGHTING SYSTEM FOR 'CONVEYANCES.

' Application filed- June a,

The invention relates to lightin systems .of conveyances such asautomobi es, boats,

a sought.

An object of my invention is to provide a lighting system in which strong lights are used to brightly illuminate the path of travel for a considerable distance in advance of the conveyance without blindin persons approaching the conveyance an i l 1n a manner which permits the approaching persons to see the path between them and the convey- Other objects will be apparent from the description hereinafter and the features of novelty will be pointed out in the claims.

' My invention comprises strong lights, the rays of which-are projected forward and intermittently extinguished, dimmed, or diverted to such an extent that they do not cause objectionable glare to persons approaching said lights.

When my lighting systemis used on a conveyance, a person approaching the same, for instance, in a second conveyance provided with a light which'casts a ntinuous or an intermittent beam ahead, is given a clear view of his path during the intervals when the intermittent lights on the first mentioned conveyance are ofi or dim.

With two conve ances each equipped with my system, the efliciency would be impaired if the lights of both conveyances were on in full brightness during the identical periods.

. To reduce the possibility of such coincidental full brightness, the lights in my system are arranged to be ofi or of reduced brilliancy, that is dimmed, for periods considerably longer than the periods in which said lights are on full. 7

The cycle of intermittent operation in my lighting s stem is arranged so that'during the. period vey'ance will travel ahead a distance less thanthat disclosed during the previous period full light. ;With this arrangement the-entire path ahead is disclosed under -'ls'trongt-,-light and furthermore is'disol'osed as been and l is being of darkness or. dimness, the con- 1927. Serial 1%,199421.

several times, if the intermittent light cycle is comparatively short.

A preferred arrangement of "my system may be illustrated as follows in connection with a conveyance assumed to be traveling at thirty miles per hour and equipped with lights which when on full disclose. the path for approximately one hundred feet ahead.

If the'cycle of intermittent illumination is arranged. to be one second with a period of second on full and of a second off or dim, the conveyance covers a distance of 29 feet during periods when the lights are oii or dim, which is only approximately 29/100 of the extent of the path seen during the previous period of full illumination.

Hence any spot in the path will be disclosed approximately three times, that is to sa on the occasion of three different periods 0 full illumination which provides ample disclosure for safe travel.

I have found that lights can be arranged to fully disclose the path ahead for over thirty feet with rays reduced, dimmed or diverted to an extent which does not blind tent. Therefore by arranging the lights in my system so that instead of becom n tinguished during the periods of dar ness they are reduced ordimmed as described above, I provide continuous and uninterru ted full disclosures of the path ahead of t e traveling conveyance. This feature elimi nates a feeling of unsafeness which might come to timid or inexperienced ersons in the conveyance during periods 0 complete darkness, even if these periods were short.v

sapproaching persons to any appreciable ex- While I prefer to use the same lamps for the strong long distance light and for the dim shorter light, it is to be understood that similar results ma be obtained by usin two sets of lamps or by using an electric am containing two filaments, one for strong an another for less powerful illumination.

Referring to the drawings which are in diagrammatic form, Fig. 1 shows my lighting system operated by a motor dr1ven circuit breaker; and Fig. 2 shows a thermostatic device of well-known form employed to make and break the circuit.

Referring to Fig. 1, 13 isan electric battery, one slde of which is connected to one side of lamps 10, and 20 is a motor havmg a circuit breaking commutator with a section 16 of its periphery grounded to the motor'shaft 18 and a sectlon 17 insulated I therefrom. A bracket 19 is grounded to the commutator and connected to the other side of the lamps 10, while is abrush in contact with the commutator and connected with a side of the battery through an on and ofi switch S. Leads A and B extend from the field and armature of the motor to the battery through which the current for running the motor is transmitted.

A variable resistance R is provided for regulating the speed of the motor, and a variable resistance R shunted around the circuit breaking commutator. motor revolves, the circuit to the lamps is made and broken by the commutator, so that when said circuit is broken a diminished current. passes through resistance R to the lamps which causes them to remain lighted to any desired degree of intensity less than the maximum intensity. of said lamps when the circuit is broken.

"Fig. 2 shows an arrangement similar to that of 1 but.with a thermostatic Circuit breaker substituted for the motor. In this arrangement 23 is a strip of insulating material, 26 thermostatic metal, and 27 a coil with one end grounded to the thermostatic metal and the other end connected to one side of the battery and lamps. The other side of the lamps are connected-with a screw in electrical connection with the thermostatic metal 26. A contact screw 24 is connected with the battery 13 and is intermittently in contact with the thermostatic metal 26, an on and off switch S being located in the connection from the contact screw 24 to the battery 13. When thisswitch S is closed, full current passes to the lamps in full brilliance. At the same time current passes through the coil 27 and by heating. the thermostatic metal 26 causes the same to flex downwardly away from the contact screw 24 thereby breaking the direct circuit to the lamps 10. At this time the lamps receive diminished current to any desired extent through the variable resistance R and accordingly become dim instead of going out altogether. The thermostatic circuit breaker is made so that the period during which the main circuit to' the lamps is broken is longer than the period during which said circuit is closed.

It will be understood that the principles cific types of circuit breakers shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, but that any suitable or well known equivalent devices can be employed for accomplishing the same purpose.

Various changes in the forms diagrammatically shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1'. In combination with a conveyance,

When the ing illuminating means mounted on said conveyance and adapted to project rays of light in the direction of travel, and means operating to intermittently'vary the intensity of the light within a maximum and minimum range, the periods of minimum inten-" sity being longer than the periods of maximum intensity and occurring in such sequence as to provide illumination..

2. In combination with a conveyance, electric illuminating means mounted on said conveyance and adapted to project rays of light in the direction of travel of the vehicle,

a source of electric energy in circuit with the illuminating -means, and means associated with the circuit operating to intermittently change the amount of current flowing through the circuit and thereby vary the intensity of the rays emitted by the illuminating means, being arrangedto make the periods of lower intensity longer in duration than the periods of higher intensity, whereby glare of the lights is reduced.

3. In combination with a conveyance, electric illuminating means mounted thereon and adapted to project rays of light in advance. of the conveyance and in the path thereof,

a source of electric'energy in circuit with the illuminating means, an automatic circuit breaker in said circuit for making and breaksaidcircuit intermittently whereby the intensity of the light is varied over a predetermined range, and a variable resistance shunted across said circuit breaker so that 9 the lights will become dim to any predeter mined degree instead of going out.

4. The method of illuminating the path of travel of conveyances which consists in projecting in advance of the conveyance rays ofhght of such intensity as to produce a glare in the eyes of an observer when viewed from a point near'the center of illuminatron, and regularly and periodically interrup-tmg the projection of said rays at such time intervals as to reduce the glare thereof, the periods of interruption beinglonger than the periods of projection.

5. Illuminating means for a conveyance comprising means on said conveyance for projecting in the path of travel thereof rays of light of such intensity as to produce a glare when observed from a point near the center of illumination, and means for reguthe said current changing means 85 high intensity rays of. light of materially less intensity whereby glare of the lights will be reduced.

7. Illuminating means for a conveyance comprising means for projecting rays of light of relatively long range in the direction of travel, means for regularly and periodically substituting for the light of long range rays of light of materially shorter range, the periods of light of shorter range beingmaterially longer than the periods of light of greater range, whereby the predominating effect will be that produced by the light of shorter range.

8. Illuminating means for a conveyance comprising means for projecting rays of light in the direction of travel, means for supplying energy to said projectin means to produce light rays of relativey {long range, means for regularly and periodically interrupting the supply of energy and for supplying energy to said projecting means to produce light rays of materially shorter range during the periods of interruption of said first named supply of energy, said light rays of less range being suflicient to illuminate the path of travel.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

DOUGLAS E. BONNER. 

